The Modern Problem of Believing the Bible

Modern Christians have two important challenges they must face, especially those living in the Western part of the world. While these challenges have always existed, the Enlightenment and it's subsequent effects forced us to provide answers - both for ourselves and those who challenge our convictions.

In our modern era, we are faced with a very strange set of circumstances when it comes to the important questions of life. On the one hand, truth is considered something we can't really know, especially when it comes to morality and claims about God. Don't believe me? Consider these common refrains and think about the underlying assumptions behind them.

• That may be true for you but not for me

• Don't force your beliefs on me

• Your personal religious convictions shouldn't affect politics

• All religions are basically the same

• Who am I to judge?

All these comments, and their infinite variations, tacitly assume something: you can't really know the truth about matters of morality and religion. In academic circles, this notion is referred to as postmodernism. But as an aside, no one really is a consistent postmodern. Everyone makes truth claims they think others should follow. If you don't believe me, just turn on the news or check your Facebook or Twitter feed.

Yet, despite this postmodern tendency of many, there is a double-mindedness at play - a sort of cognitive dissonance. While meaning, values, purpose, morality, and religion are supposedly off the table, matters of science and reason are held out as reliable ways to achieve truth. What is meant by "science" and "reason" is not quite clear (at least not to this writer), but nonetheless, they are the religion of the day. Men in white lab coats have replaced men in priestly garb as reliable bearers of truth.

Can you see the strange method of knowing at play here? On the one hand, matters of absolute truth are considered unknowable, especially if they hint of a traditional religious nature. On the other hand, science and reason are our guides and we use them to make absolute claims. If you are going to make truth claims, they need to be supported and founded upon these twin pillars.

While I reject these false standards, I hope you are beginning to see the challenge this presents for modern Christians who take seriously the claims of the Bible. More on that in a minute...

How did we get here?

So how did we get to this place? Ironically, the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation could arguably be said to have provided the kindling that led to what is now known as the Enlightenment (or the Age of Reason). During the so-called Dark Ages, corruption was at an all-time high among church and government leaders. Oppression leads to suspicion of those in power and in particular the claims they are making. The truths of the Gospel, and specifically the plain teaching of the Bible, were being kept out of the hands of the ordinary man while Catholic church leaders and monarchs jockeyed for power.

Then two things happened over the course of a hundred years or so. First, the Protestant Reformation freed the average individual to think for himself about the truths of the Bible. While in no way did the Reformers reject the church, they rejected that the church was the final authority on matters of truth. In the eyes of the Reformers, the Bible was the final authority, with the church being a guardian of this truth. The second impetus of the Enlightenment was the scientific revolution. Many scientists (mostly Christian I might add) during this era were discovering amazing truths about the natural world. Men like Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton were using God-given reason to understand the created order.

In the eyes of many, man was now released from the shackles of a corrupt church and monarchy, and autonomous reason could rule the day. With the success of science in understanding the natural world, hope in human reason was ascending to new heights. While the horrible wars of the 20th century reduced our hope in unaided reason (and created the postmodern movement mentioned above), many of the Enlightenment ideals are still with us today. If you can't use science and autonomous reason to justify your truth claims, then you have no seat at the knowledge table. Claims from authority are unacceptable, unless they are from scientists or PhDs, that is.

The Two Challenges For Modern Christians

These Enlightenment and postmodern ideas present two very big challenges for Bible believing Christians. We must have a ready answer for each. I have known many professing believers who walked away from the faith, and at least part of the process was the inability to grapple with these challenges. And here they are...

The de jure challenge

This challenge basically says that Christians have no grounds or justification for believing what they believe. While a Christian may say they believe in the Gospel because the Bible says such, the challenger responds with "why should you believe the Bible?" The Christian says that the Bible is God's word. The challenger asks how you know it's God's word. And on and on the questions go until you reach the ultimate grounding of your belief. In short, the de jure objection asks how you know what you know. The world assumes Christian faith is just wishful or hopeful thinking while the Christian claims confidence in knowing the truth claims of the Gospel.

The de facto challenge

This challenge is quite different from the above. Instead of asking how you know what you know, it points out specific problems with what you claim to know, attempting to prove your beliefs irrational. For instance, a de facto challenge may be that it is irrational to believe God specially created humans when modern scientists claim that we evolved from apes. Supposed science conflicts and biblical criticism represent the majority of de facto challenges Christians face.

Meeting The Challenge

My purpose in this blog is to meet both challenges. For some Christians, myself included, the de jure challenge carries more weight. For others, however, de facto challenges create the most tension. Either way, I think the solution is the same, and my aim is to flesh that out over time. So let me leave you with a brief summary of that solution with the promise to dissect and expound upon it in subsequent posts.

The ultimate ground of the Christian's knowledge is the Word of God, the Scriptures. While many external evidences prove and support the truthfulness of this Word, the ultimate grounding or proof is in the Word of God itself. This Word proves itself because it is self-attesting, self-authenticating, and self-evident. Through the work of the Holy Spirit and the gift of faith, we are able to see the Bible for what it really is, a divine book with divine qualities, possessing divine truth. This shines through most clearly in the person and work of Jesus, the center and focal point of all Scripture. And because the author of reality inspired this book, it will prove itself to correspond with reality. When this view is properly understood and applied, the de jure and de facto objections will prove themselves impotent. At least that is my aim.